Interparty
Political Agreement - Declaration Authorising the Organ on National
Healing, Reconciliation and Integration to Embark on the National
Dedication ProgrammeSource:
Veritas Peace Watch July 20, 2009

Gazetted:
15th July 2009

HIS EXCELLENCY THE HONOURABLE ROBERT GABRIEL MUGABE, G.C.Z.M., President
of Zimbabwe and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe.

WHEREAS it is
provided by section 31D of the Constitution
of Zimbabwe that the President shall appoint Ministers and may
assign functions to such Ministers, including the administration
of any Act of Parliament or of any Ministry or Department:

WHEREAS in the
exercise of powers conferred on him by the said section 31D of the
Constitution, as read with Schedule 8 to the Constitution relating
to the Framework for a New Government, His Excellency the President
appointed three Ministers of State to establish and execute the
work of the Organ for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration,
pursuant to Article VII of the Interparty
Political Agreement enshrined in the said Schedule 8 to the
Constitution of Zimbabwe;

WHEREAS the
said Schedule 8 to the Constitution enshrines the principle of working
together in an inclusive government, with great sensitivity, flexibility
and willingness to compromise, in order to uphold respect for the
deeply-felt and immediate aspirations of the millions of the people
of Zimbabwe to carry out sustained work to create conditions for
returning our country to stability and prosperity;

WHEREAS His
Excellency The President, consistent with Article VII and Article
XVIII of the Interparty Political Agreement referred to in Schedule
8 to the Constitution, charged the Organ to promote equality of
treatment of all regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or origin;
put in place practicable measures to achieve national healing, cohesion
and unity in respect of victims of pre-and post-Independence political
conflicts; create an environment of tolerance and respect among
Zimbabweans from the Diaspora; as well as assure personal security
of all persons and prevent the resort to violence for purposes of
settling any disagreements or differences;

WHEREAS Article
7.1 (c) of the Interparty Political Agreement provides that the
all-Inclusive Government shall: "Give due consid­eration
to the setting up of a mechanism to properly advise on what measures
might be necessary and practicable to achieve the National Healing,
Cohesion and Unity in respect of victims of pre-and post-Independence
conflict," the Organ being thereby, brought into being;

AND WHEREAS
indigenous Zimbabweans living in the pre-Independence colonial era
were systematically deprived of basic human rights, subjected to
oppression, suppression, racial discrimi­nation and inequitable
access to the enjoyment of the resources of the land; including
unfair exclusion from political processes within the country; thereby
precluding fair representation of the indigenous population in the
governance structures of the country; leading to an armed liberation
war for national emancipation and self-determination in which thousands
of combatants and non-combatants lost their lives, dignity and property;
and

NOTING the tendency
to easy resort to violence by political parties, State actors, Non-State
actors and others in attempting to gain the upper hand in competition
for power and position, or in order to settle political differences
and achieve various political ends; and

CONCERNED by
the displacement of scores of people due to politically motivated
violence;

RECOGNISING
that-

violence
in any form has the effect of dehumanising people and generating
deep feelings of hatred and polarization within our country;

violence
abuses both the victim and the perpetrator, thus undermining our
collective independence and our capability as a people to exercise
our free will in making political choices;

the practice
of settling disputes by violence has its firm roots in pre- and
post-Independence behaviour right up to present times, thereby
spawning an unacceptable and amoral culture.

FURTHER NOTING
that the perpetration of violence in any form is an affront to the
Bill of Rights enshrined in Chapter III of the Constitution of Zimbabwe:

NOW, THEREFORE,
in the spirit of the Interparty Political Agreement, I do hereby-

(a) declare,
set out and dedicate the 24th, 25th and 26th July, 2009, as a period
during which the Nation may dedicate the Inclusive Government, our
newfound peace, our freedom, our new spirit of nation-building,
National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration to inspire the
nation going forward; and

(b) declare,
set out and dedicate the 24th, 25th and 26th July 2009, as the appointed
days upon which, consistent with the deeply-felt desire for freedom,
peace, stability and prosperity by the millions of Zimbabweans at
home and abroad, all the political parties, formations and factions
within and without Zimbabwe, and espousing a Zimbabwean interest
howsoever defined, publicly and honestly commit themselves, as indeed
it is their constitutional and legal duty-

(i) to renounce
violence in all its forms, and in particular violence designed
to achieve political ends;

(ii) to move
among the people, in particular their supporters internal and
external, for purposes of promoting the values and practices of
tolerance, respect, non-violence and dialogue as sustainable means
of resolving political differences;

(iii) to reject
all forms of political violence;

(iv) to report
all forms of political violence;

(v) to renounce
the promotion and use of violence, under whatever name called,
as a means of attaining politi­cal ends;

(vi) to work
together to ensure the security of all persons and property;

(vii) to refrain
from inciting hostility, political intolerance and ethnic hatred;
and

(viii) to
take all measures necessary to ensure that the structures, agents
and institutions that they control or liaise with within and without
Zimbabwe, do not engage or support engagement in perpetration
of vio­lence or any other activities harmful to Zimbabwe.

AND ON THIS
DAY, THE 10th DAY OF JULY, 2009, I IMPLORE AND ENJOIN

THE GOVERNMENT
of the Republic of Zimbabwe

(a) in total
inclusiveness, to apply the laws of the country fully and impartially;

(b) to ensure
the safe return of all Zimbabweans desirous of returning from the
Diaspora;

(c) to ensure
the safety of all and any internally displaced persons;

(d) to direct
all State actors to operate within the framework of the Interparty
Political Agreement and of the laws of the country in executing
their duties.

ALL CIVIL SOCIETY
organizations of whatever description, whether affiliated to a political
party or not, not to promote or advocate or use violence or any
other form of intimidation or coercion to canvass or mobilize for
or oppose any political party to achieve any political end.

AND I FURTHER
RESPECTFULLY REQUEST AND ENJOIN ALL TRADITIONAL LEADERS AND ALL
FAITH-BASED INSTITUTIONS TO-

NOTE the existence
of the culture of violence that has afflicted the country, its nationals,
regions, religions, tribes, clans, families and individuals;

NOTE the compounding
of the violent culture by foreign institutions and influences that
seized the country and dominated it; spawning oppression, suppression,
racial discrimination and dispossession of the property of the indigenous
people;

RECOGNISE the
conflict and bloodshedding that accompanied the liberation process
in Zimbabwe over a period of a century as indigenous people fought
to redeem the cradle and source of their identity, namely The Land;

CONCERN themselves
with the shameful post-independence disturbances, conflicts, violence
and losses of life and property visited upon the country by political
parties, faith-based institutions and others; and

CALL UPON the
Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe, political parties, traditional
leaders, faith-based leaders, civic bodies and their leaders, patriarchs
and matriarchs, mediums and all charged with providing guidance
and sustenance to the population of Zimba­bwe; to redeem the
nation from the spell of conflict and bloodshed embedded in its
history and practices; and in particular correct the failure to
assuage psycho-social traumas visited upon individuals, families
and communities by the conflict visited upon them in the pre- and
post-Independence period;

AND I FURTHER
ENJOIN ALL THE COUNTRY'S TRADITIONAL AND FAITH-BASED LEADERS AT
ALL LEVELS-

TO ASSUME their
age-old responsibility to make devotions to the Creator with solemn
ceremonies;

TO SEEK the
cleansing of our land, Zimbabwe, from the curse of conflict and
bloodshed;

TO MAKE supplication
for forgiveness and prosperity; and

TO SEEK EVERLASTING
GUIDANCE for the Nation of Zimbabwe from generation to generation;

AND ALL THESE
WITH STRICT ADHERENCE TO THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SEASONS, PERIODS
AND TIME-TABLES – AND APPROPRIATE MEDIUMS – BY WHICH
SUCH PROCESSES ARE TO BE OBSERVED.

Given under
my hand and the Public Seal of Zimbabwe at Harare this 24th day
of July [Note this is an error but it was in the gazetted notice]
in the year of our Lord, two thousand and nine.

R. G. MUGABE,
PresidentBy Command
of the President.

NOTEI
remain keenly conscious that post-conflict peace-building is not
an event, let alone a simple process. Drawing together opposing
energies is a managed process, requiring rare expertise in various
fields, as well as purposeful consultations within clearly-defined
parameters; to achieve peace, prosperity, stability and healing
for individual Zimbabweans of all ages, their families, organisations,
communities and the country as a whole. The process has to be grassroots-driven,
for it to be a truly Zimbabwean process.

To this end
the Organ was established, to provide guidance and direction to
all groups, as we all turn this epoch in our history into an Epoch
of Rebuilding; with purposeful focus towards the rehabilitation
of Zimbabwean politics.

Indeed, we must
move from a culture of historically imposed violence, undertake
an examination of the past and present traumatic stress disorders
afflicting the greater part of our population, military and non-military
and uniformed or civilian; to build a new culture of inclusiveness
born of a healed national environment.

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